A multi-proxy lacustrine record of Holocene climate change on northeastern Baffin Island, Arctic Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID24087579
AuthorsJason P Briner (0000-0002-8584-0978, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, corresponding author), Neal Michelutti (0000-0002-5857-4811), Donna R Francis (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Gifford H Miller (0000-0002-8225-2740, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research), Yarrow Axford (0000-0002-8033-358X, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research), Matthew J Wooller (0000-0002-5065-4235, University of Alaska Fairbanks), Alexander P Wolfe
Year2006
Volume65
Issue3
Pages431-442
Publication date2006-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQuaternary Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-5894 • E-ISSN: 1096-0287
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.yqres.2005.10.005
OpenAlexW2121490771
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited43

Reconstructions of past environmental changes are critical for understanding the natural variability of Earth's climate system and for providing a context for present and future global change. Radiocarbon-dated lake sediments from Lake CF3, northeastern Baffin Island, Arctic Canada, are used to reconstruct past environmental conditions over the last 11,200 years. Numerous proxies, including chironomid-inferred July air temperatures, diatom-inferred lakewater pH, and sediment organic matter, reveal a pronounced Holocene thermal maximum as much as 5°C warmer than historic summer temperatures from ∼10,000 to 8500 cal yr B.P. Following rapid cooling ∼8500 cal yr B.P., Lake CF3 proxies indicate cooling through the late Holocene. At many sites in northeastern Canada, the Holocene thermal maximum occurred later than at Lake CF3; this late onset of Holocene warmth is generally attributed to the impacts of the decaying Laurentide Ice Sheet on early Holocene temperatures in northeastern Canada. However, the lacustrine proxies in Lake CF3 apparently responded to insolation-driven warmth, despite the proximity of Lake CF3 to the Laurentide Ice Sheet and its meltwater. The magnitude and timing of the Holocene thermal maximum at Lake CF3 indicate that temperatures and environmental conditions at this site are highly sensitive to changes in radiative forcing.

Arctic · Climate change · Climatology · Geography · Glacial period · Greenland ice sheet · Holocene · Holocene climatic optimum · Ice sheet · Meltwater · Paleoclimatology · Physical geography · Radiocarbon dating · Climate change and permafrost · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena · Oceanography · Paleontology